Republicans form circular firing squad over Trump’s tariffs

Published

3 months ago

on

June 6, 2019

By

While President Donald Trump is playing statesman during his United Kingdom trip, Republicans at home are now openly feuding with each other over his upcoming plan to institute economically damaging tariffs on Mexico next week.

According to a report at Politico, Trump hardliners are lining up against their GOP colleagues who see the announced tariffs as a big mistake that could cripple the party at the polls in 2020 — and the infighting is becoming more and more acrimonious and public.

ADVERTISEMENT

The report states that a group of Senate Republicans are pushing back at Trump’s plan to use his national emergency powers to put the tariffs in place and are threatening a veto-proof majority to thwart the president.

According to Trump-supporting lawmakers, opponents of the tariff plan are undercutting the president’s authority and making him look bad.

“I’m disappointed that so many of my colleagues are quick to announce their opposition,” explained Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). “By so publicly rebuking the president’s strategy you undermine the very leverage that could end this thing quickly. That’s the irony to me.”

Two Republicans facing pressure at home from farmers and manufacturers who will be damaged by the newest salvo in the trade war — and who are also facing tough re-election battles — have differing opinions on how GOP congressional lawmakers should handle what is becoming the biggest fight within the party since Trump’s election.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I’m not in favor of this. The president needs to rethink it,” advocated Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). “The president needs to understand that we’re opposed to these tariffs. We don’t think it’s a smart way forward. The president has his own opinion, he’s a tariff guy but I think we have a lot of folks in opposition.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) — who is at the top of a Democratic hit list of vulnerable seats in 2020 — is still backing Trump and fired back at his wavering colleagues.

“We’re making a mistake if we oppose the tariffs. Because we’re already seeing positive movement,” explained Tillis, who believes Mexico will somehow bend to Trump’s will. “You could lead Mexico to believe that all they have to do is wait out a resolution of disapproval. So I think it slows down the pace of negotiations.”

ADVERTISEMENT

According to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who often makes a big show of opposing the president only to back down later, this may be a battle Trump won’t win.

“Why suffer a losing vote that maybe they’d put up here in the Senate?” Paul said in an interview. “I think [new tariffs are] a bad idea and I think there’s a possibility that there could be a veto proof-majority.”

According to Politico, “congressional Republicans are not coordinating to send the president a unified message about what the consequences might be if Trump moves forward. Even if the Senate is able to muster 67 votes to override a presidential veto, it would be all for naught if the House Republicans are working in the exact opposite direction,” with Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) saying it was unlikely Trump would meet with the same stiff resistance.

ADVERTISEMENT

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) echoed those sentiments, telling reporters, “We should empower the president to be able to have a strong hand in negotiation. If members here were undercutting him, it only hurts.”

You can read more here.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We’ve launched a weekly podcast, “We’ve Got Issues,” focused on issues, not tweets. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. We’re not part of a conglomerate, or a project of venture capital bros. From unflinching coverage of racism, to revealing efforts to erode our rights, Raw Story will continue to expose hypocrisy and harm. Unhinged from billionaires and corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We’ve launched a weekly podcast, “We’ve Got Issues,” focused on issues, not tweets. Unlike other news sites, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. We’re not part of a conglomerate, or a project of venture capital bros. From unflinching coverage of racism, to revealing efforts to erode our rights, Raw Story will continue to expose hypocrisy and harm. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

Stormy Daniels offers to speak before Congress: ‘Sh*t is about to hit the fan again’

In an interview with the Daily Beast, adult film actress Stormy Daniels says she is waiting to hear from Congressional investigators taking a look at payments made to her through Donald Trump's lawyer to keep quiet about their reported affair.

With lawmakers indicating they may not call the actress to speak before a congressional committee, Daniels confessed she is waiting for them.

Drones hit Saudi Aramco plants, disrupting oil flow

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it was ready to respond to drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels on two major oil facilities, which severely disrupted production as Washington blamed Tehran for the strike.

The strikes sparked fires at the state-owned Aramco oil plants and prompted furious condemnation from the top US diplomat who blamed Tehran for the strike.

Huge palls of smoke rose into the sky after the pre-dawn attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two key Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia as the giant prepares for a much-anticipated stock listing.

The drones triggered multiple explosions, forcing state-owned Aramco to temporarily suspend production at the two facilities, interrupting about half of the company's total output, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.

Large US banks sweating the move to lower interest rates

President Donald Trump's attacks on the US Federal Reserve make financial markets cringe, but his demand for zero interest rates makes banks sweat.

As the Fed reverses course and is poised to cut the benchmark lending rate a second time on Wednesday, large US banks have signaled they expect a bigger hit to their bottom line.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo last week trimmed their 2019 forecasts for profits tied to interest rates as central banks around the world loosen monetary policy in response to a weakening global growth outlook.

Lower interest rates mean less profits on loans made by the banks, especially if they have offered higher returns on deposits to attract customers.